German Chamber Clock, late 15th century iron The Time Museum, Rockford, Illinois

Mercury, related works

In The Housebook drawing of Mercury a clockmaker prepares to set his instrument by gazing heavenward through a quadrant. The invention of the mechanical clock, by the fourteenth century, was closely connected with study of the planets. Some early clocks were primarily designed to time planetary movements. Public clocks began to keep time for urban communities during the fourteenth century, and by the fifteenth, chamber clocks became increasingly common in private homes. A new consciousness of time led to more efficient conduct of business. The mechanical clock has been called the key invention in Europe's evolution toward industrialism and modern technology: a turning point in Western civilization.

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